365 Gems of Wisdom

© Thubten Chodron and Sravasti Abbey. This book is strictly for free distribution. It is not to be sold. Published by Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, Singapore.

About the book

Written by Venerable Thubten Chodron and the monastics from Sravasti Abbey, 365 Gems of Wisdom is an easy-to-read yet thought provoking book about life. It contains daily Buddhist inspirational teachings to create peace in a chaotic world.

Segmented into different days of the month for the entire year, these reader-friendly teachings cover all spectra of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life. You will find heartfelt sharings and teachings from depression, impermanence and death to the meaning of life, wisdom and bodhicitta.

Read daily throughout the year, this profound guide will help us ponder and grow in the Dharma.

Excerpt

January 1
Setting Our Motivation

We start any new activity by generating our motivation. We do this at the beginning of the day, the beginning of a project, or the beginning of a meditation session. We do this because our motivation is the prime factor that will determine the value and worth of whatever we do.
Buddhism always points us inwards to examine the state of our mind, our motivations, and our intentions. We can look good on the outside and be doing the “right thing”, but it is not considered spiritual practice if we have a manipulative or rotten motivation. This is why we take special care with our motivation and continually check why we are doing something. We frequently try to cultivate an attitude of love, compassion, and altruism in order to train our minds so those thoughts will be our motivators. Even if we do not always feel it from the heart, just bringing the mind back to a compassionate motivation, again and again, makes a profound imprint on us and helps us to generate genuine love, compassion, and altruism.